Stereo Receiver

A Simple, Sweet-Sounding Hi-Fi Solution

If you’re looking to get the best possible two-channel audio performance on a limited budget—and something versatile enough to power audio from your TV, Blu-ray player, personal computer, and CD player via digital or analog inputs—then the TX-8020 Stereo Receiver is for you. Onkyo’s WRAT serves up more than enough pure analog power to drive most compact bookshelf and floorstanding speakers, with discrete output stage circuitry and a high current, low-impedance drive effortlessly handling the most demanding loads. The sound quality is characteristic of the veteran hi-fi brand, with lively dynamics, a sweet and natural mid-range, and accurate timing for all kinds of music. And just like the cool vintage receivers in its genealogy, the TX-8020 has bass, treble, and balance controls as well as speaker A/B posts for multi-room setups. Connect your media players and TV—perhaps including the DS-A5 RI dock with AirPlay for wireless audio and video streaming—and be treated to the kind of full-scale, broad-spectrum performance a soundbar couldn’t hope to match.

An Introduction to the Onkyo SoundOnkyo’s WRAT (Wide Range Amp Technology) preserves natural audio fidelity across a very wide frequency range. It includes low-negative-feedback amp topology for clear, true-to-life sound; closed ground-loop circuits to reduce distortion; and high instantaneous-current capability to counter impedance fluctuations from the speakers and sudden dynamic gains in music and movie soundtracks.

Discrete Amplifier Design with Quality PartsUnlike amplifiers based on cheap integrated circuit (IC) boards, our discrete amplifiers incorporate hand-selected audio-grade parts into their design. The TX-8020 has fully discrete output stage circuitry with heavy-duty transistors to control running temperatures, lower distortion, and increase the life of the product.

High-Current, Low-Impedance DriveAlthough your loudspeakers may be rated at 4, 6, or 8 Ω, regular operation will see that resistance spike and plunge for short periods of time. This can place up to 10 times the usual load on your amplifier, and if it can’t meet demand, sound quality will suffer audibly. Onkyo’s high-current, low-impedance design uses a massive EI transformer to drive your speakers accurately at all times, even under heavy loads.

Independent Bass, Treble, and Balance ControlsBass, treble, and balance controls are very useful for optimizing the tonal characteristics of your source material (particularly when the recording is less than perfect), as well as allowing you to correct for the acoustics of your listening space and the frequency response of your speakers. These carefully designed circuits—which some receivers in this price range neglect to include—let you fine-tune the sound to your own taste, with zero loss in perceived audio quality.

Wide Selection of Audio InputsFor many people, the TX-8020 will serve as the heart of a central home entertainment system. To best equip it for this role, we included three digital and five analog audio inputs to connect your BD player, TV, CD player, an AirPlay dock for iPod/iPhone/iPad (such as the DS-A5), and even your personal computer. There’s a moving-magnet phono stage for your choice of turntable, so you can start or rediscover a treasured vinyl collection.

FM/AM Tuner with 40 Memory PresetsJust like the vintage receivers that first won Onkyo so many fans, the TX-8020 includes an FM/AM tuner complete with RDS station information in areas that support these broadcasts. The good news is that changing channels is no longer a painful ordeal. You just have to scan once and save up to 40 stations into the preset memory, with 8-character naming capability for each. Now you can jump to your desired program instantly.

High-Quality A/B Speaker TerminalsThe TX-8020 features two sets of banana-plug-compatible speaker terminals to enable the connection of Speaker pair A and Speaker pair B in a multi-room audio setup. The receiver is designed to drive either a single pair of speakers rated at 4–16 Ω, or two pairs of 8–16 Ω speakers, allowing you to enjoy the same audio source in two rooms at once.

Remote Interactive Makes System Control EasyA single-cable RI system enables limited control of an RI-ready component—such as an Onkyo CD player or the optional DS-A5 dock—using the TX-8020 remote. This makes the process of cueing up music and video easier. Connect the DS-A5 and the receiver will automatically power up, select the appropriate input, and commence playback as soon as you touch the AirPlay icon on your mobile device or iTunes-equipped computer.